021 - Accidental Video

[samantha_grey]

(OOC Note: TW - Mentions of death are possible, even likely in threads here.)

[She was avoiding the network a little bit, no plans to contact anyone. It had happened again, and she'd get in touch with Merlin or Draco in a couple days. The reaper spirits were a little disturbing though, and as she saw another shade slipping into the area around her apartment, she frowned. She'd wanted to wait a few days, but she had to know.

"Arya?" she said over an audio message. "A...Are you alright?" The message returned as undeliverable. Samantha tried again, and again. Her face went pale and she dropped to her knees. She tapped at the screen, wanting to turn it off so she could be alone, but her eyes were already brimming enough with tears that she missed and hit the video feed. "No..."

The feed begins with her there, on her knees face in her hands. Furniture is starting to move all around her, slamming into walls. A chair cascades into her, sending her crumpled against the wall. She grips her head as the howling begins to take on words, very audible words to anyone listening.]

Murderer... Monster... You killed her...

[She screams, clutching at her head and sobbing, the air whipping around her while she tries to focus, tries to remember the incantations to pacify spirits the old kings taught mortal men, the herbs her mother would hang before the door at Samhain. It won't come to her.]

Why are you still alive and she is not...? Why do you get to stay...?

Stop it! Make it stop! Leave me alone! I never wanted any of this! [Her cries are desperate and a bit close to half mad as her claws extend and she swipes, accidentally shutting the feed off, never knowing that it had been on at all.]

Comments

[Video]

[morethanadream]

[Well this isn't good.

How to get the girl's attention how to get the girl's attention...

Oh, right. He has hands.

He attempts to clap, but like everything else he does, it's extremely quiet. With a scowl, he starts digging in his bag until... oh! He had forgotten he had that!

Now Samantha is treated with her communicator ringing very loudly. Sandy had gotten a little bell just for such an occasion.

(Samantha may or may not notice that he's very pale, but that could easily be attributed as part of his regular appearance, since she hasn't met him before he started getting sick.)]

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[samantha_grey]

[There's no way that she hears the clap. over all of the howling and the screams, she definitely won't hear him at first. When he attempts to contact her, the feed re-opens and he can see what seems to be three or four spirits of various ages whirling about her, shouting at the top of their lungs. Most of it is nonsensical, gibberish at best. One of them seems to like throwing furniture and objects at random around the room before coming back to her. A few shallow cuts are visible.]

Why do you live? Look what you did to me! They never found everything! I'll never rest in peace now!

[That one almost looks like a young man, no older than her. There's scars all along his arms and legs and at the throat, and he is missing one of his arms.]

I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I can't control it! [She's clutching at her head almost desperately, recognizing that one's voice all too well. How could she forget her first victim in Asgard?]

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[samantha_grey]

[The ringtone makes the spirits howl louder, one raging into another room through the wall. Their screams lose cohesion for a second, but she opens tear-streaked eyes to look at the screen.]

Why are you haunting me? Even this thing?!?

[It seems, for the moment, that she doesn't fully grasp that Sandy is a person, not a ghost.]

[morethanadream]

[Miss, he's not haunting you.

Sandy stays calm, ignoring the screams and howls and the mad eyes staring at him. He carefully holds up a bundle of herbs--sage, tobacco, and braided sweetgrass.

Do you recognize these? You can banish ghosts with them.]

[samantha_grey]

[Sage...
Sage...
Sage...]

Was my life not horrible enough that you sent me to him?!?

[She flinched, trying not to look at the old, grizzled bum's spirit floating accusingly around her. Her hands gripped at her hair and she fought to keep her focus.]

Is... that sage?

[morethanadream]

[Sandy ignores the words. Ignores the spirits.

He just nods. Yes, sage. Sage is very good for smudging.

He takes out a lighter and flicks the flame on before holding it under the plants. Smoke starts to leak out.]

[samantha_grey]

[She's nodding now, trying to look around. A few seconds later, there's burning sage in her hands. The smoke cause her to cough once, but the way she waves it around has the look of someone familiar with its use. The spirits pull back for a second, though they do not leave the room entirely.

As fearful as they are of the stuff, the spirits here are beyond enraged at her, and the sounds of tearing can be heard.]

I... don't deserve to be protected from them.

[morethanadream]

[He can't speak to that. He doesn't know what she did, or how true the spirits' statements are.

Nonetheless, he'll still teach her how to protect herself.

He puts the burning incense in a bowl and shows a saltshaker to the camera. You know what to do with the salt, miss?]

[samantha_grey]

I know its use.

[She held the sage aloft and the view started to shift. There were still screams, the spirits being unwilling to depart her home even with it being present. She opened a cupboard and sat down. There was a bowl in front of her and what looked like a blue tube of some sort with the word 'Sea Salt' on it.

She was versed in all of this. The problem was that she was seeing the people she had actually killed here, back again. She took some in her hand and started to pour it out in a circle around her.]

Not enough for the whole house.

[morethanadream]

[Sandy draws on his sketchpad, and when he turns it around, it's a picture of Sandy himself, bearing salt, walking to a house with Samantha sitting inside, a question mark next to it. Does she need him to try coming to help?]

[samantha_grey]

...

[She looked down at the ground, clenching her hands as she held the salt, pouring it slowly. Tears were dripping down to the ground. There was a small shake of her head, though.]

They died because of me. It isn't fair to subject others to what I did. This is my punishment.

[morethanadream]

[The problem is that 'they died because of me' could mean anything from "I stabbed them in the face" to "I convinced them to go to the beach and they were eaten by seagulls". Since he doesn't know the context, he reserves judgment and underlines the question mark in his picture.

He won't force the woman to accept help, but he wants a more solid answer than just a tiny jerk of the head.]

[samantha_grey]

[This was the 'I stabbed you in the face and cut your corpse up' variety, unfortunately. Samantha's darker half had caused considerable harm, and had recently struck again. She was a mess, psychologically.

It took a minute for her to realize he hadn't cut the feed. Looking up, she could see the lines there, eyes lined with red. She glanced away and sighed.]

I will open the door. Be wary of the spirits. My victims... are not well, and I am no necromancer.

[morethanadream]

[If Sandy knew that, he might have been a little more hesitant about offering his help. (Un?)Fortunately, he doesn't know.

Sandy nods and draw a new picture, one that's pretty familiar--it's a more detailed version of the Asgard map. He needs to know where you live.]

[samantha_grey]

[Thankfully, she was harmless now and would be for months to come. Looking at the picture, she nodded.]

Loki... paid housing. I... I'll open the door for you.

[morethanadream]

[Sandy nods. Yes, he knows where that is.

He shuts off the feed. Some time later, a little golden man steps lightly over Samantha's threshold. He wears a bag slung over his shoulder, and at the moment, he's looking around to see if he can find the young woman who needed help.]

[samantha_grey]

[She's unlocked the door, so he still has to open it. When he does, he can see her, much as she had been, with a circle of salt around her and sage burning everywhere. Spirits whirled in her company, screaming and venting their wordless, angry rage.

At this point, most of the usable items that could be thrown were already useless, so the disfigured one simply howled at him.]

... I don't really deserve someone coming here, you know.

[morethanadream]

[Sandy gives her a reassuring smile, but it's the best he can do when he's busy trying to evaluate the situation.

He undoes the clasp of his bag, pulling out a lighter, a bundle of herbs, and an entire box of coarse salt. Ignoring the howling spirits ((un)fortunately, made easier by his history being privy to the most gruesome thoughts of humans), he picks his way over the thrown objects until he makes it to her salt circle, offering her the salt.]

[samantha_grey]

[They screamed at him several times, though they did start to filter around eventually. When the salt was offered, she took it and placed it next to the one that she had next to her. Looking up at him quietly, she sighed.]

You can't talk, can you?

[morethanadream]

[He arches an eyebrow and gives her a half-smile. What gave him away, he wonders?

Nonetheless, he shakes his head in confirmation and flicks his lighter on, lighting the smudging bundle and adding his mixture to the raw sage she's been burning in the room.]

[samantha_grey]

[The drawings earlier and the charades game for directions, but that's not important. When he lit the bundle, she nodded in appreciation.]

I... know most of what you showed me. Ours were the old ways back home. It's... just very hard when you know the spirits.

[morethanadream]

[Sandy waves the burning bundle in the air, then leaves it in a bowl, allowing the smoke to permeate the room.

Then he turns to face her, taking out his sketchpad and flipping to a page showing a stylized question mark. She doesn't have to explain further if she doesn't want to, but he wonders what she means by that.]

[samantha_grey]

[She looked around, not really relaxing but easing slightly as she saw that they were gone for now. Much as she spoke about this being penance, it wasn't easy for her.]

The one without the arm. I killed him. It was when I went temporarily insane. My body's... not always safe. I get out of whack and I do things, horrible things. These spirits are here because of me.

[morethanadream]

[Sandy doesn't like the sound of that, but he continues to suspend judgment. He rarely judges anyone, seeing it as not his place to either forgive nor condemn, and he doesn't know enough about her and her condition.

Instead of visibly reacting, he just nods and checks the windows for particularly determined spirits. They should probably make the salt barrier now while the room's empty.]

[samantha_grey]

[The spirits were still there, just outside of the house. Samantha looked out the window and sighed.]

If we're going to put up a barrier, I'll suggest just this room. They won't give up, and I don't really want them raging anywhere else. They've already done enough damage here.